International
The debate is growing about whether student protests in the US are anti-Semitic or anti-war
Protests over the war in Gaza in dozens of universities in the United States continue this Tuesday to show their rejection of US policy towards Israel, while the rhetorical controversy grows over whether such demonstrations promote anti-Semitism or are simply anti-war and include Jewish students.
The president of the House of Representatives, Republican Mike Johnson, called on Tuesday “anti-American” that the current US president, Joe Biden, “is incapable or does not want to” condemn what is happening in some American universities and pointed to a lack of leadership at a “critical moment.”
“It’s not about freedom of expression,” the Republican added at a press conference about the pro-Palestinian protests, and opined that the country “desperately” needs a clear moral authority in the face of what it considers an increase in anti-Semitism.
Conservative Senator Tom Cotton has gone so far as to call the protesters “pro-terrorist tword” and has asked for more tough hand against the students from the police.
The governor of Texas, Republican Greg Abbot, considered last week that students participating in the pro-Palestinian peaceful protests in that southern state should go to jail for promoting hatred and anti-Semitism.
The White House has also stressed on several occasions that President Biden supports the right to “peaceful protest,” but that he is against “any violent rhetoric, threats of hatred (…) and anti-Semitism,” something that some students have denounced, but it is not being widespread and from the beginning it has allowed the participation of Jewish students opposed to the war.
Apart from criticizing US support for Israel during the Gaza War, another common denominator among these demonstrations is the demand of students to their educational centers to cease their investments in the Israeli private sector and promote greater transparency about those relations and their possible involvement with the military industry.
Progressive Jewish senator and former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders rejected the parallel drawn by the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, between the protests of these days and those that occurred during Nazi Germany against the Jews.
“Anti-Semitism is a vile and despicable form of intolerance, but please do not insult the intelligence of Americans, trying to distract us from the immoral and illegal war policies of their extremist and racist government,” Sanders said in an interview.
“The vast majority of people who protest (…) are tired and disgusted by this war,” said the senator.
Omer Bartov, a Jewish professor and expert on the Holocaust and Genocide at Brown University, has warned that the accusations of anti-Semitism against university protests in the United States, in which he has participated by leading assemblies and debates at the University of Pennsylvania, are dangerous because they are used as a weapon.
“There is politics and there are prejudices. And if we do not make a distinction between the two, then what we are really doing is imposing a silence on the policies of the Israeli government that have now culminated in the total destruction of Gaza,” Bartov said in a radio interview on Tuesday.
The College Democrats of America, the student organization of the Democratic Party, supported in a statement the protests on U.S. campuses for “seeing this war as what it is: destructive, genocidal and unjust,” while condemning police actions to evict the camps.
International
Luigi Mangione Pleads Guilty to Killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson
Luigi Mangione admitted Friday to fatally shooting Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, the largest health insurance group in the United States, during an appearance before a federal judge.
The case shocked the U.S. business community and dates back to December 2024, when Mangione opened fire on Thompson, 50, on a Manhattan street. Prosecutors have described the attack as being motivated by Mangione’s opposition to the U.S. health insurance system.
“On the morning of December 4, I shot Mr. Thompson in Manhattan and he died,” Mangione said as he pleaded guilty to a federal stalking charge related to his pursuit of the executive.
Mangione, 28, is scheduled to be sentenced on December 18, and prosecutors have indicated that they will seek a life sentence.
In addition to the federal charges related to stalking Thompson, Mangione also faces a murder case brought by the state of New York.
Following his guilty plea in federal court, Mangione’s defense asked a state court to dismiss the state charges, arguing that prosecuting him again for the same conduct would violate protections against double jeopardy.
“We have just filed our motion in state court to explain why the charges should be dismissed under New York’s protections against double jeopardy,” Mangione’s attorney, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, said Friday.
Both the federal and state cases could result in a life sentence. Two other federal charges that initially carried the possibility of the death penalty were dismissed by a judge earlier this year.
International
ICE Plan to Equip Agents With Electric Shock Gloves Raises Abuse Concerns
Plans to equip U.S. immigration agents with gloves capable of delivering electric shocks are raising concerns over potential abuses by a law enforcement agency that critics accuse of using excessive force and providing inadequate training to its personnel.
The plan involves the potential purchase of electric-shock gloves for agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the agency primarily responsible for carrying out President Donald Trump’s campaign to deport millions of undocumented immigrants.
Democratic Representative Maxwell Frost criticized the proposal on X, arguing that the agency has already faced accusations of excessive force during immigration enforcement operations.
“As if assaulting and shooting people in the streets wasn’t enough,” Frost wrote. He also criticized the reported $20 million potential expenditure on the devices and called for greater restrictions on ICE.
The agency has faced growing scrutiny following a series of deadly shootings during immigration enforcement operations. Among the incidents were the deaths of two U.S. citizens in Minnesota in January who were participating in protests against the agency.
Critics have focused on the tactics used by ICE agents when detaining immigrants, as well as allegations that training standards for newly recruited personnel have been lowered.
According to a procurement plan first reported by the Associated Press, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees ICE, could spend between $10 million and $20 million on the devices.
The gloves are described by the agency as tools intended for “distraction and de-escalation,” rather than lethal weapons. The system, known as GLOVE, stands for “Generated Low-Output Voltage Emitter.”
The device is manufactured by Compliant Technologies, a Kentucky-based company that describes its products as advanced non-lethal tools designed to protect and assist law enforcement and other personnel.
The proposal comes amid an intensifying national debate over ICE’s enforcement methods and the use of force during the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
International
Three U.S. Executions Set for Same Day as Trump Pushes to Expand Death Penalty
The death penalty has been abolished in 23 of the 50 U.S. states, while three others —California, Oregon and Pennsylvania— currently have moratoriums in place.
The United States is set to carry out three executions on the same day, a rare occurrence that has not happened since 2010, according to the nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center.
President Donald Trump has sought to expand the use of capital punishment for what he describes as “the most heinous crimes.” In April, the Department of Justice proposed expanding execution methods to include firing squads, lethal gas and electrocution.
Tennessee is scheduled to execute Anthony Darrell Dugard Hines, 66, on Thursday. He was sentenced to death for the 1985 murder of a woman, according to local media.
In Oklahoma, Carlos Cuesta-Rodríguez, 70, is scheduled to be executed for a 2003 murder.
Meanwhile, Alabama plans to execute Jeremy Williams, 42, who was sentenced to death for the rape and murder of a five-year-old girl.
The United States carried out 47 executions in 2025, the highest number since 2009, when 52 executions were recorded.
Florida conducted the largest number of executions last year, with 19, followed by Alabama, South Carolina and Texas, with five each.
Of the executions carried out in 2025, 39 were conducted by lethal injection. Three were carried out by firing squad and five through nitrogen hypoxia, a method that involves forcing nitrogen gas into a face mask, depriving the prisoner of oxygen.
The United Nations has condemned nitrogen gas as a cruel and inhumane method of capital punishment.
Luigi Mangione Pleads Guilty to Killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson
ICE Plan to Equip Agents With Electric Shock Gloves Raises Abuse Concerns
Three U.S. Executions Set for Same Day as Trump Pushes to Expand Death Penalty
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
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